When individuals are exposed to chemicals and toxins, they can face devastating injuries and medical problems. The effects can sometimes be treated but, in some cases, can lead to life-long problems. Even worse, sometimes the exposure is the result of another person’s negligence and could have been prevented if certain actions were taken. This can happen when proper safety procedures were not taken in an environment such as a factories in which chemicals are used in the manufacturing process. However, chemical exposure can even happen in offices from cleaning products and paint.

One of the most common places an individual can be exposed to chemicals is at a construction site. According to the website of Crowe & Mulvey, LLP, even though toxic substance exposure may be less common than other accidents, the resulting injuries are often far more severe. Since construction sites constantly use dangerous chemicals, many instances can lead to toxic exposure. For example, accidents such as chemical fires, explosions, and spills can lead to the toxic exposure. However, employer negligence can also put employees in danger. These negligent actions include failing to quarantine a toxic substance or provide protective gear for employees. An employer may also fail to find chemicals in demolished materials, releasing them into the air. While construction sites are inherently dangerous, actions such as these put employees at more risk than necessary and can lead to devastating and life-long injuries.

Chemical exposure can lead to some of the most severe injuries an individual can take, changing an individuals’ life forever. While accidents are often the cause, when employer negligence leads to toxic substances being released into the air, employees can take legal action to receive the compensation they deserve.

The United States federal government issued a ban on polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs in 1979. This came after health and environmental concerns came to light and made its way into public discourse. PCBs were solely produced in America by the agrochemical company Monsanto. Long before it dabbled in GMOs and biotechnology, Monsanto was a chemical industry leader and was estimated to have produced up to 1.5 billion tons of PCBs between the 1930s until the late 1970s. Today, PCBs are classified by both the Environmental Protection Agency and International Agency for Research on Cancer as probable human carcinogens.

There have been numerous scientific studies proving that PCBs cause cancer in animals. One study noted by the Environmental Protection Agency found that rats fed with PCB-laced food developed liver cancer over a two year period. According to an in-depth report by The Washington Post, another study that was covered up by Monsanto during their 4 decade production of PCBs showed that PCBs caused tumors in rats. While a similar definitive link is yet to be found between PCBs and cancer in humans, all studies point to the fact that prolonged and significant PCB exposure can result in considerable health risks. Another study pointed out by the Environmental Protection Agency is an examination of PCB exposure symptoms in workers. The study shows that there is a clear pattern indicating that exposure to PCBs increases the risk of liver cancer and melanomas.

All in all, the American scientific community has mostly come to the conclusion that toxic Monsanto PCBs can be potentially dangerous to human health. It has been particularly made clear by years of research that prolonged PCB exposure can negatively affect an individual’s health. Aside from the threat of cancer, PCB has also been found to compromise a person’s immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems.

When proper precautions are taken on a construction site, workers can perform their jobs without being in an a harmful environment. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. A significant portion of workers are unnecessarily injured every year as a result of unsafe working conditions. Three common reasons for injury include slip and falls, struck by objects, and caught-in-betweens.

Slip and falls have potential to inflict extreme injury, and permanently affect the victim’s life. If the floor is slippery, the workplace is cluttered, or surfaces are uneven, slip and falls can occur. Problems that can arise from these dangerous situations include injuries to the neck, spine, and hips.

Secondly, workers can be seriously hurt after being struck by a falling object. When people are working on a construction site, they should wear a hard hat to protect from falling objects. When there are not safe ways to deposit tools, trash, or unused material from a higher level on a construction site, they are liable to blow over or be dropped. According to the website of The Law Offices of Vic Feazell, P.C., these mishaps can cause serious head injuries, broken bones, and painful lacerations.

Lastly, caught-in-betweens happen when a worker is crushed between two things in the construction site. Examples of caught-in-betweens are cave-ins, or being smashed by machinery as collides with something and the worker is stuck in the middle. Caught-in betweens are extremely painful, and can lead to amputations, broken bones, head injuries, and more.

Every one of these sources can be eliminated through implementing a higher degree of safety regulations on the work site. When workers are aware of their surroundings and consciously make efforts to keep the workplace safe, injuries are minimized.

Do you think that you may have been a victim of medical malpractice in Tennessee? If so you should really find out a little more about state medical malpractice laws.

Medical malpractice laws vary from state to state, and in Tennessee, it is embodied in the Medical Malpractice Act. One of the conditions for determining if a claim has merit is to establish that a physician, nurse, or other healthcare professional failed to uphold the standard of care expected of them. This standard is defined as the generally accepted procedures and practices for a patient with particular medical condition for that geographic area.

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice claim in Tennessee must also establish that the failure to uphold the standard of care was the direct cause of your injury. This may take the form of a birth injury, wrong site surgery, retained surgical instrument, and so on.

Medical malpractice is perhaps the most insidious of personal injury cases because health professionals are specifically tasked to safeguard the health and well-being of patients. According to the website of personal injury lawyers of Pohl & Berk, LLP, we place a lot of trust in healthcare professionals and institutions, especially doctors, nurses and hospitals. This trusts makes it particularly egregious when they act in a careless or reckless manner, exposing their patients to serious harm.

In general, medical malpractice is not easy to prove because there are many factors that have to be considered to satisfy the definition of a breach and if it was in fact the proximate cause of an injury. It requires the expertise of the relevant healthcare professional and an experienced medical malpractice lawyer working in tandem to expose the negligence.

You have one year from the time of the injury to file a medical malpractice case against a healthcare professional or institution. That’s not a lot of time, so if you believe you are a victim of medical negligence, consult with a medical malpractice lawyer in Tennessee as soon as possible.

Silica or silicon oxide is perhaps one of the most common compound minerals found in nature, existing in various forms in soil, rock and sand. Its variety and abundance has made it an important component in many industries including construction, electronics, and food. As a consequence, it is estimated that more than 2 million workers in the US may be at risk for a medical condition called silicosis.

Silica can be present in the air as dust when working with materials that contain them such as concrete as extremely tiny particles that can be inhaled by anyone who is in the immediate area such as Nashville residents around a road being built. This is called respirable silica dust. Because it is so small, even a relatively small amount of silica can create a heavy concentration of silica dust. Somewhat similar to asbestos, when the silica particles are inhaled, they get into the lungs. This builds up over time and develops into a condition called silicosis, a type of pneumoconiosis, which is considered an occupational disease for workers who are repeatedly exposed to the dust. On average, 250 workers in the US die from silicosis every year.

The main problem with silicosis is that it makes it difficult for the patient to breathe, causing a perennial shortness of breath, and weakens the immune system so that the risks of developing respiratory, autoimmune and infectious diseases are much greater than a person without silicosis. And because there is no cure for silicosis, the only way to manage it is to do preventive measures. As any Nashville personal injury lawyer may point out, it is the responsibility of employers and contractors to ensure the safety of their workers and other people from silica exposure to prevent silicosis.

There are three types of silicosis: acute (heavy exposure over a short time); chronic (regular exposure over an extended period ~10 years); and accelerated (regular exposure over a longer time ~20). It is difficult for the sufferer to detect the early symptoms of the disease because they can appear to be symptoms of a cold or flu (dry coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, feelings of tiredness). Some remain asymptomatic for years after exposure. If a person begins developing silicosis, the disorder will progress even when there is no further exposure to the mineral.

If you have contracted silicosis or other injury due to silica exposure, you may be able to get compensation from the responsible party. Consult with a toxic exposure in your area to discuss your legal options.

Being a baby is not exactly the best thing for the environment. Babies, like all humans, can contribute to pollution. While this is kind of inevitable in our consumption-driven capitalist society, there are ways parents can reduce baby’s carbon footprint.

One of the easiest ways to help curb baby-related pollution is to simply recycle your baby products. All those glass jars baby food comes in can be either repurposed in some cute DIY project, or simply sent to the recycling plant.

Another huge baby contribution to pollution is one-use diapers. Aside from being filled with baby waste, disposable diapers take up a great deal of space in landfills and smell bad. While it is definitely more work, having reusable cloth diapers can drastically cut back on baby-related pollution. Think about it: A baby can go through several disposable diapers a day. Over the course of a few years (until baby can go potty by herself), this will add up to hundreds of diapers being disposed of. Additionally, you’ll save a lot of money not buying a new package of diapers every few weeks.

Attending physicians are often targeted for medical malpractice lawsuits for delayed or wrong diagnosis, but they are not always the only parties concerned. In most cases, a physician will make a diagnosis based on results from blood work and radiology.

Radiology is a specialty field of medicine dealing with the use and interpretation of the products of various imaging technologies. Film X-ray radiology are the most commonly recognized technique, but there are also other techniques such as ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). Each of these techniques has a specific use, but they are all primarily diagnostic tools. A radiologist is a doctor who is qualified not only to perform the test but to interpret the raw data. A radiology technician, on the other hand, is only trained to take the images but is not qualified to “read” them.

The interpretation of the radiologist of what is in an image is what reaches the attending physician, which will use it together with other data to make a diagnosis. According to the website of law firm Crowe & Mulvey, LLP in New Hampshire, errors in reading the image are more common than people know. If the interpretation is wrong, or there was a perceptual error (missed something), the attending physician is likely to make a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, which can both have serious consequences for a patient who needs to be treated correctly in a timely manner.

Yet this is an aspect of medical malpractice that is often overlooked because of a multiplicity of errors. While fault may not lie entirely with the radiologist, it is important that they are also held accountable to minimize the occurrence of preventable errors in interpretation and perception of diagnostic images.

If you have suffered harm because of a delayed or wrong diagnosis, there may be others responsible aside from or instead of the attending physician. Bring your medical records to a Massachusetts personal injury attorney experienced in handling diagnostic error cases to get an accurate assessment of who should be held liable and sued for in your potential medical malpractice case. An experienced attorney will be able to determine the most likely defendant for your case to succeed against.